How to Setup Artwork for Foil Stamped Business Cards

So you’ve decided on Foil Stamped Business Cards — great choice! To ensure your design comes out just the way you want it, we suggest keeping the following things in mind:

The Basics: Work in CMYK color mode and set the resolution to 300 DPI.

Dimensions & Bleed: Your starting document size for standard business cards should be 3.627” x 2.127”. The final size after cutting will be 3.5” x 2”. Document safe size is 3.377” x 1.877”. Make sure to keep all text within the safe area. For custom sized business cards, add .125 of bleed to the desired finished size. For example, a 2.5 x 2.5 square business card, your starting document size should be 2.627 x 2.627. The final cut size would be 2.5 x 2.5. The safe size is 2.377 x 2.377.

Figuring Out the Foil: You must include a foil mask file in addition to the regular full color file. The foil mask file lets us know what parts of your design you want in foil.If you are purchasing foil stamping on both sides of your business card, you will need two foil mask files—one for each side. In the foil mask file, use 100% black (C: 0% M 0% Y:0% K:100%) to indicate where you want the foil to be. Leave everything else white—white indicates no foil. Be sure that the foil areas are NOT visible within your artwork file and ONLY visible within the mask file. There is a 1/16-inch margin of error with foil, so we do not suggest printing small or very thin fonts in foil.

If you have any questions about designing your foil stamped business cards, don’t hesitate to contact us at Elite Flyers 1-800-538-8091, or by email at info@eliteflyers.com. We’re always happy to help!

Lorena has been involved in the design industry for the past four years. Her portfolio includes a variety of high end designs and/or printing of business cards, flyers, post cards and more. She currently works for EliteFlyers.com as a Graphic Designer where she manages projects for different businesses and clients all over the world.

When it comes to selecting a business card, the first thing that comes to mind is how to best portray your business and leave a lasting impression of your name and company. It is important to make a g…